Chapter 348: Ascension to Immortality (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 348: Ascension to Immortality (4)
The Ten Kings of Hell.
Among them, Great King Jingwang, who presided over the first hell, was currently clutching his head in his pajamas, having been jolted awake from a blissful slumber by the news.
Just what kind of lunatics had invaded Hell in the flesh this time?
He had blocked almost all the temporary entrances because of the constant trouble, so how? No, more importantly, there were far more people who hated the idea of coming here than those who wanted to, so why on earth would anyone come here of their own volition?
He had intended to just beat them moderately with his Sword Control Technique and drag them in, but it seemed they weren’t just regular lunatics, but terrifyingly powerful “Super Lunatics.” Not only had they broken through the Mountain of Knives Hell, but they had even snatched away a famous sword he had borrowed from Great King Ogwan.
…He was already busy enough to die every single day just punishing the sinners; why did he have to deal with intruders too?
He desperately wanted to unleash the demons of Hell to capture them immediately, but if he caused such a commotion, the news would surely reach the ears of the other Great Kings.
If he couldn’t even handle a few thieves on his own, it would bring shame to his name as a Great King.
Of course, there was also the fact that things would get annoying if reports went up to the higher-ups.
“Those bastards. They seem to have some skill, but Hell isn’t a pushover. Whatever their purpose, I’ll make them regret seeking out Hell as living beings.”
Indeed, Hell was a place where all sorts of lunatics passed through.
No matter how nasty the newcomers were, they would ultimately be nothing compared to that guy.
“There’s no way anyone could be more vicious than that damn stone monkey, the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal.”
The ultimate psycho who had killed two Reapers sent to collect him because they “disturbed his sleep,” and then cackled in front of Great King Yama as he snatched the Book of Life and Death to erase his own name.
It wouldn’t be easy to pierce the security system of Hell that had been designed specifically to prepare for him…!
* * *
“In Hell, demons and evil spirits are dangerous, but they say you also have to watch out for all sorts of traps designed to stop intruders.”
-Right, right. Their toys have improved quite a bit compared to the old days. If my body were intact, I’d almost want to walk into one myself. Ah, that trap you see there—the moment you step on it, blades will swarm from all directions. To disarm it…
“He says to first move while avoiding the visible threads, then rotate clockwise while cutting the cloths in the order of red, blue, purple, green, and yellow. Finally, cutting the trigger part of the trap will disarm it.”
“So-hyun, what’s that cow running toward us?”
“It’s a yokai called an Outer Horned Ghost. Its charging power is scary, but it’s stupid, so you can catch it easily by attacking its flanks.”
-Mm, how nostalgic. Back when I was still immature and hated the idea of dying, I really raised a lot of hell. I caused quite a bit of trouble for the Heavenly Realm and Hell.
He spoke as if reminiscing about fond memories, but honestly, just hearing it made me feel quite sorry for the civil servants of Hell.
A being born as the strongest, immortal, who had consumed almost every “fortuitous encounter” available to the strongest in the world.
Could that really be summarized as just “causing trouble”?
-Ah, that door over there can only be opened by someone who has practiced Taoist arts. Tell your swordsmanship master to open it.
“Master, that door…”
“It’s Taoist energy. To think it can only be opened by someone who has undergone Taoist training. How fascinating.”
-Yes, yes. She’s doing her part well. These kids really are worth teaching.
…I feel like it would have taken a long time without Sun Wukong’s help, but it doesn’t really feel real.
It’s not something I should say in front of dangerous traps, but it feels like I’m playing a game while looking at a walkthrough.
-Oh boy, what’s the point of these guys increasing the power? The basic structure of the traps remains exactly the same.
After dealing with the traps following Sun Wukong’s amused instructions, we moved along the path she indicated. Before long, the road filled with traps and yokai ended, and a place that looked somewhat inhabited appeared.
“Hmm? Are these sinners who have finished paying for their crimes?”
“They look too well-off for that. Judging by the energy I feel, they don’t seem to be deities or high-tier immortals. They’re probably rookie immortals whose hobby is sightseeing in Hell.”
However, most of the residents weren’t human. No matter how I looked at them, they all had horns on their heads, and their physiques were far too massive to be human.
-They are Noble Spirits. One of the most common races you’ll see in Hell. They’re different from ghosts or evil spirits, so you’d better remember that.
I was staring at them curiously, just as they were looking at us with curiosity, but the moment their eyes landed on me, something strange happened.
“Hieek…!”
“You quack! You said he’d be a low-ranking immortal…! He’s not!”
“How was I supposed to know he’d be here!?”
As if terrified of something, they immediately turned around and fled.
Did they run away because of me…? Why…?
-…Well, not all residents of the Heavenly Realm or the Underworld are impressive. Looking at you now, it’s easy for them to misunderstand.
‘That’s a bit unsettling. Aren’t you going to tell me what the misunderstanding is?’
-…Anyway, now that you’ve made it this far, there shouldn’t be any major issues. If we can find the entrance to the 2nd Hell and cross over, you won’t have to pass through trials like before.
‘…I’ll let it slide since you seem like you don’t want to talk about it. But you’re familiar with Hell. Don’t you know the location of the entrance to the next hell?’
-Ah, because some delinquent once invaded Hell, plundered the Book of Life and Death, and erased the names of himself and all his friends, a regulation was created to change the locations of the gates connecting the hells to prevent further invasions.
Aha, I see. I don’t know who that person is, but they’re really something else.
“…Seriously, if he hadn’t been born so gifted, he would have been executed a hundred times over.”
-..Ahem, hmph!
“Hmm? What was that all of a sudden?”
I was so dumbfounded that the words slipped out of my mouth.
“No, it’s nothing. Just, you know, what we’re going to get right now is a Sun Wukong artifact.”
“Ah, right. They say one of the first places Sun Wukong raised hell in the Journey to the West before she was caught was Hell, right?”
“Yeah, I just suddenly thought of that.”
“You have quite the imagination. Thinking of something like that all of a sudden~”
“Mm, true. Come to think of it, the Ruyi that So-hyun uses often is also a Sun Wukong artifact, isn’t it?”
As I answered Ga-eul’s question, Ha-ni and Cathy Noona burst into laughter, but there was one monkey here who couldn’t laugh.
-Is my story really that famous? Even though an amount of time that humans can’t even fathom has passed…?
It was none other than Sun Wukong herself.
‘There’s something called “records” in this world. It’s the driving force that brought humanity this far.’
It was true in reality, but since this was a world where artifacts and deities actually existed, the Journey to the West was a very famous story.
Even if they didn’t know the specific details, anyone interested in artifacts would know the basic framework.
-I knew that, but it doesn’t feel great to have my dark history shared like this.
…Well, putting aside whether what Sun Wukong did can be called “dark history.”
‘So what are you going to do now? Do we have to wander around without a plan?’
-No? That would be too inefficient. Don’t worry. I’m acquainted with someone who knows the way very well. If I ask, he’ll at least guide us.
‘Ho, who is that?’
-He’s not as famous as Yama, but he’s quite well-known in his own right. It’s Great King Jingwang, the one of the Ten Kings who presides over the 1st Hell.
* * *
In the end, Great King Jingwang had no choice but to get out of bed and change into his uniform.
He thought the lunatics were just “Terrifyingly Strong Super Lunatics,” but it turned out they weren’t Super Lunatics, but “Great Super Lunatics.” They had pierced through all the formations, traps, and magic treasures he had created to deal with that crazy monkey and had finally entered the residential area.
He had spent enough time escaping reality.
He had slapped his own cheeks, thinking, ‘It must be a dream,’ ‘This makes no sense,’ and ‘Aha, this is a nightmare!’ but unfortunately, this was reality.
He should have just taken a successor and quit like Yama did.
What wealth and glory was he trying to enjoy by sticking around in Hell?
…Anyway, being aggrieved and angry was one thing, but now that a problem had occurred, it was only right to deal with it.
Now, the problem was how far he should go with this response.
He had to stop underestimating them, but he couldn’t exactly treat them as equals to the stone monkey either.
To deal with him, one would have to call upon a top-tier god or the Heavenly Army.
If they went on a rampage, he could guarantee that it would take an astronomical amount of time and resources to restore the 1st Hell.
One couldn’t burn down the whole house just to catch a flea, could they?
Right, let’s meet them in person first. Meet them and settle it.
Maybe he was just too scared, and they might be more reasonable than he thought…
“Great King Jingwang…!”
Just as Jingwang was about to step out after finishing his rationalization, he saw his subordinate shouting and realized that his hopeful delusions were being incinerated.
Normally, his subordinates, who valued etiquette and procedure, would only shout without any prior notice if they had gone mad from civil servant stress and were playing an April Fool’s joke, or if something truly, unbelievably massive had happened.
“Yes, what is it that makes you run so urgently?”
Even if his subordinate was panicked, as the Great King presiding over a hell, he couldn’t show a disheveled appearance.
As he admonished the panting subordinate with a dignified voice, the fellow seemed to calm down a bit and began to catch his breath.
No matter how difficult the situation, the leader of a group must always remind their subordinates that their king does not waver easily…
“It’s a report from the Noble Spirits…! They say that among the intruders, there are immortals, and even someone at the level of an Earthly Immortal…!”
“Call the Heavenly Army right fucking nooooooow…!!!!!!!!”
One might ask if a King presiding over Hell should be trembling over a mere immortal, but immortals vary.
There was no problem with a bunch of guys who could use a bit of Taoist magic flocking in, but if it was an Earthly Immortal, the story changed.
What was an Earthly Immortal? They were the second highest rank among immortals.
They were those who, if they set their minds to it, were qualified to undergo Ascension to Immortality and be reborn as beings called gods rather than humans.
In terms of rank, the Ten Kings of Hell were technically higher, but strictly speaking, he was a desk worker and hadn’t done much fighting.
If he got caught by a delinquent who didn’t care about ranks, it was clear as day that even if he won, the entire area would become a shambles.
“No, actually, it’s a relief. If it’s just an Earthly Immortal level, it’s fine. The Heavenly Army can suppress them without much damage…!”
At least it was much better than that crazy stone monkey entering Hell again.
He had to think that way to endure it.
Great King Jingwang immediately contacted the Heavenly Realm through his divine ability.
Thinking it would be better to capture them with minimal damage.
However.
[It is currently the banquet period, so the Celestial Maiden Call operator is away. Please try again later. If you wish, the voice mailbox…]
Civil servants were, by nature, beings who were unreachable at the exact moment they were needed.
“Agh, damn it…! What kind of banquet is it this time…! Those call operator bastards are never at their desks…!”
Actually, it wasn’t a huge problem.
Even if the operator was away, it was a divine ability that conveyed intent, so the fact that there were intruders would be transmitted, and the fact that there was an Earthly Immortal-level immortal among them would also be conveyed.
The problem now, however, was that he couldn’t specifically designate which deity or Heavenly Army unit would come.
For an Earthly Immortal level, sending just one appropriate Celestial Immortal would be enough, but the Heavenly Realm’s processing was strangely sloppy. They might send insufficient forces, or conversely, they might send forces capable of extreme overkill.
Insufficient forces were a problem, but sending too much would be a real disaster.
“An Earthly Immortal…! It’s an Earthly Immortal…! I just need personnel to help suppress an Earthly Immortal, so please, not too much, not too little…!”
At Great King Jingwang’s mournful wail, his subordinates’ eyes grew moist.
* * *
-Hmph, why are they so hot-tempered, not even listening to what a person has to say? I told them I didn’t come to fight, but to meet that fellow Jingwang.
‘That’s because if some terrorist-looking guys say they want to meet your boss, they’re going to resist desperately.’
-Terrorist? If I had intended to flip this place upside down, it wouldn’t have ended like this.
Ah, just to be clear, the forces of Hell were quite impressive.
Soldiers armed with sharp blades maintained their formations and were faithful to movements designed for the many to suppress the few.
The strength of an individual was around that of an ordinary(?) B-rank hero, but their power as a group rivaled the upper tiers of A-rank.
However, the compatibility was a bit bad.
With the combination of Master, who was excited to test her new sword, and Baek Seol, who had gone behind enemy lines alone and sealed their talents, the long-range soldiers who relied on their abilities were already defeated.
And although the soldiers who were strong even without their talents tried to suppress us, most of them were cleared out by Cathy Noona and Professor Park A-ram.
‘…Are these people gods too?’
-No, these are just soldiers. You can think of them as the lowest-ranking residents of Hell or the Heavenly Realm. They’re born sturdier than those in the human world, but they’re not that impressive.
Still, Sun Wukong chuckled, saying the level was better than before.
-And being a god doesn’t necessarily mean you’re strong. When I broke through to the 5th Hell, I wasn’t even at such a high stage yet.
Even though he was born with the strongest body from the start.
-Anyway, it’ll be a pain if that fellow Jingwang gets scared and hides, so let’s hurry.
Ignoring the screams of the resisting Hell forces begging us to stop.
We were able to reach the palace where Great King Jingwang was supposed to be.
“What the.”
-…Ah, this guy, seriously.
However, there was no sign of anyone.
-I guess he ran away to be a nuisance.